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Reviews

Find out why our guests love us so much

4.9/5

Based on 850 reviews

Feefo
Travel and Leaisure Worlds Best Awards for number 1 tour operator in the world 2024 and number 2 tour operator in the world 2025
We're one of the World's Best Tour Operators!
Voted No.1 in 2024 and No.2 in 2025 by Travel+Leisure
At Timbuktu our mission is to delight our guests every step of the way, from planning to traveling. We're really proud to share all of our guests' feedback.
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Trip to South Africa

Trip to South Africa

April 2022

15 nights in South Africa

i would both recommend them and use them again, catherine was great especially when we wanted to tweak the end of the trip
April 2022

9 nights in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana

i've completed this review several times - so will be brief. Our travel agent / consultant, Kristin, was very knowledgeable and always responsive. Her backup, Joanna, did a good job when Kristin was traveling.
Excellent Experience!

Excellent Experience!

April 2022

16 nights in South Africa

Jenna was amazing in helping us to plan our Africa adventure. She was willing to help with all my changes and needs. I would highly recommend Timbuktu and we will be using them again in the future.
April 2022

11 nights in Egypt

Both the planning/booking process & our trip itself were fabulous. Completely faultless & even better than we expected. We have just booked another trip with Timbuktu.
Do NOT go anywhere else!

Do NOT go anywhere else!

April 2022

13 nights in Sri Lanka and Maldives

I can't even begin to describe how much we love Timbuktu and our travel agent especially. My wife found this place after a lot of research into a South Africa trip and Joanna was able to take our concept, come up with a few different ideas, and then carefully work with us to tailor the trip to our exact needs. The best part was our agent had already done a trip to South Africa so her first hand experience was incredible! Six months after we return we've booked another trip to Sri Lanka. We're excited to book it so far out so it can be affordable to us and Joanna led the way this time as we had no idea what we had in store. Again, perfectly tailored! I can't wait to come back here!
Fabulous dealing with Timbuktu. Highly recommend!

Fabulous dealing with Timbuktu. Highly recommend!

April 2022

6 nights in South Africa

I contacted Timbuktu because I was interested in taking a Safari. I have been dealing with Joanna Rigby-Jones as our travel specialist. I am telling you, you can’t go wrong with her. She has made all the arrangements and answered every question within a day. We have a group of six cruise ship passengers getting off at Maputo we will be met and driven to both camps. After the Safari’s we will be taken to the airport in Hoedspruit to fly to Cape Town. We are going to two different camps for five total nights. We will then fly to Cape Town for one night. I even changed one lodge and the hotel in Cape Town I had originally picked out. Not a problem at all when I asked Joanna to make the adjustment. We were given an abundance of information and the down payment was easily made. I was so impressed with Joanna’s personal service. I certainly would recommend Timbuktu if you want to make reservations for a Safari. If you are in the U.S. like myself, I’d ask for Joanna. We customize exactly what we wanted! This was so easy and our group is so looking forward to the trip we can hardly wait.
Jeffi has been responsive, pleasant, and generally extremely helpful!

Jeffi has been responsive, pleasant, and generally extremely helpful!

April 2022

11 nights in South Africa

Jeffi was really informative, insightful about things that would work well for a solo traveler and very knowledgeable about South Africa. i had great confidence that my upcoming trip will be great!!!
Third time using Timbuktu

Third time using Timbuktu

March 2022

7 nights in Botswana

This is our third time using Timbuktu. Joanna listens to our ideas and really delivers. She knows the camps well and always gives good advice plus she understands all the practicalities. We have put together a fabulous looking trip which is very exciting.
March 2022

9 nights in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana

The reps I worked with had been to the countries many times - nothing better than firsthand experience in planning the best trip.
They listen and deliver

They listen and deliver

March 2022

12 nights in South Africa

Charline was great at listening to what we wanted and finding a way to do it. We are excited about the trip she planned for us. We looked at several other Sarafi services and Charline got it done our way, and at a good price. I would recommend them anytime.
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11 Condé Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialists 2025

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No. 1 & No. 2 Tour Operator in Travel + Leisure's Best Awards 2024 & 2025

Travel + Leisure

Best Booking Platform in Women's Health Travel Awards 2025

Women's Health

Travel Specialist voted as Latin America A-List Travel Advisor 2025

Latin America A-List Travel Advisor

"Timbuktu can take relatively complex and slightly amorphous travel plans and transform them into a well-organized, perfectly tailored trip."

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